United States v. Bartleson

• Decision Date: 10 February 2015
• Docket Number: No. CR 14–3022–MWB.,CR 14–3022–MWB.
• Citation: 74 F.Supp.3d 947
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Anthony BARTLESON, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa

74 F.Supp.3d 947

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff
v.
Anthony BARTLESON, Defendant.

No. CR 14–3022–MWB.

United States District Court, N.D. Iowa, Central Division.

Signed Feb. 10, 2015.

74 F.Supp.3d 949

Anthony Morfitt, U.S. Attorney's Office, Cedar Rapids, IA, for Plaintiff.

74 F.Supp.3d 950

Todd Michael Lantz, Weinhardt & Logan, PC, Des Moines, IA, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER REGARDING ABUSE–OF–TRUST ENHANCEMENT

MARK W. BENNETT, District Judge.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I.	INTRODUCTION	950
II.	FACTUAL BACKGROUND	955

A.	Undisputed Facts	955
B.	Disputed Facts	956
C.	Admissibility of the Department of Labor Report	958

1.	Standard for Admissibility of Evidence at Sentencing	959
2.	Case Law on “Sufficient Indicia of Reliability”	959
3.	DOL Report has “Sufficient Indicia of Reliability”	962

III. DISCUSSION 963

A.	Standard for Abuse–of–Trust Enhancement	963
B.	Parties' Arguments as to Abuse–of–Trust Enhancement	964
C.	Analysis Regarding Abuse–of–Trust Enhancement	966

1.	Bartleson Occupied a Position of Private Trust	966
2.	Bartleson's Position Facilitated the Commission and Concealment of the Embezzlement	970
3.	Enhancement Would Not Cause Double Counting	973
4.	Application of Note 5 of the Sentencing Guidelines under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.3	975

a.	First Clause of Note 5	976
b.	Second Clause of Note 5	979

D. Restitution 983

1.	Restitution Should Include Lost Investment Earnings and Tax Liabilities	984
2.	Payment Schedule for Restitution	988

IV.	CONCLUSION	990
V.	APPENDIX	991

I. INTRODUCTION

In this criminal sentencing of a corporate vice president, who embezzled money from thirteen employees' retirement accounts, one of the fighting issues is whether he abused a position of trust. An insightful philosophical work entitled Trust and Antitrust focuses on the risks of bestowing trust upon another.¹ The author, Annette Baier, is a moral philosopher and an eminent scholar on the phenomenon of “trust.”² According to Baier, “Trust ...

74 F.Supp.3d 951

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